Insights from Attachment Theory for Adult Children of Divorce, is a four-part series by Life-Giving Wounds alumna Emily Rochelle which introduces the key concepts of Attachment Theory, explores the relationship between attachment security and mental health, looks at how attachment is rooted in neurobiology, and how attachment impacts one’s relationship with God.

Part one explores the importance of the parent-child relationship and how this relationship lays the foundation for future relationships. It explores how attachment is formed when a parent or caregiver consistently meets the child’s physical and emotional needs and how divorce disrupts the parent-child relationship, damaging the attachment bond. 

Part two highlights how secure attachment provides the necessary safety for a child to explore and develop, whereas insecure attachment is correlated to poorer mental health. The reader is invited to reflect on how attachment wounds negatively impact the developmental tasks of the child, based on Erickson’s developmental stages. Finally, the insecure attachment patterns- avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized— are briefly introduced. 

Part three delves how the attachment system connects the body and the brain through the nervous system. This series explores how experiences of attachment can positively or negatively impact the child’s developing nervous system and why divorce is a trauma. The reader is introduced to the Polyvagal Theory and encouraged to understand how emotional regulation and integration is an important part of the journey in healing from relational trauma and attachment injury. 

Part four reflects on how attachment patterns may impact one’s relationship with God. In revealing who God is, Scripture uses human language and images that call to mind the attachment relationships of parent-child and spouse. Trauma can become a filter through which certain themes in Scripture become triggering and God’s love is obscured. The four attachment patterns are re-visited in light of a relationship with God. The series concludes with an invitation to develop a secure attachment with God and receive God’s love more deeply.

About the Author:

Emily Rochelle graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a Master’s in Catechesis and Evangelization in 2021. Having experienced her parents’ divorce while she was in elementary school, Emily has a heart of compassion for those who suffer and a deep desire to bring the healing love of Christ into people’s lives. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband.